Submarine apparatus



G. FORMIGLIA AND A. MAULO.

SUBMARINE APEARATUS. APPLICATION FILED APR-16,1919.

Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

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G. FORMIGLIA AND A. MAULO.

SUBMARINE APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 16. 1919.

Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

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GIUSEPPEPORMIGIJIA AND ANTONIO MAULO, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SUBMARINE APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 16, 1919. Serial N0. 290,379.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GIUSEPPE FORMIG- LIA and ANTONIO MAULo, subjects ofthe King of Italy, residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, andState of Pennsylvania, respectively, have invented a certain new anduseful Submarine Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

Some of the objects of'the present invention are to provide means forrecovering articles of value from the bottom of the ocean, rivers orlakes; to provide an apparatus arranged to descend-to the bottom of abody of water and to automatically return to the surface of the water;to provide an apparatus arranged to descend to the bottom of a body ofwater and pick or scoop up articles and bring them to the surface; toprovide means for photographing below the surface of a body ofwater; andto provide other improvements as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a side elevation,partly in section, of one form of salvaging apparatus embodying thepresent invention; and Fig. 2 represents an end elevation of the same.

' Referring to the drawings one form of the present invention is shownwherein a body 10 is arranged to be released to descend by gravity tothe bottom of a body of water and thereafter automatically return to thesurface after having collected a quantity of material or articles fromthe bottom. The body 10, in the preferred form comprises a plurality ofelongated sealed cylinders 11 containing air and arranged in suitablespaced relation upon a suitable frame 12.

For the purpose of submerging the body 10 and returning it to thesurface, a plurality of ballast tanks 13 are provided arranged inalinement and on opposite sides of a normally closed separate reservoir1 1 containing compressed air. As the ballast tanks 13 are of identicalconstruction the description will be confined to but one and like partswill be correspondingly numbered. An opening 15 serves to admit and.discharge water to and from the tank 13, the said opening being locatedat the outer end of the tank 13. When the tanks 13 are both filled withwater the buoyancy of the air filled cylinders 11 is overcome and thebody 10 gradually sinks to the bottom of the body of water.

In order to expel the water from the tanks 13, each is provided with amovable piston 16 rigidly connected to a piston rod 17, which extendsthrough the outer head,

of the tank 13 and is arranged to be propelled outwardly by the actionof compressed air released from the reservoir 14:. To accomplish thisthe ends of the respective receptacles or tanks 13 on the opposite sideof the pistons 16 from the openings 15 are in communication with pipes20, which have a common connection with the reservoir 14 and are bothcontrolled by a valve 21 which, is normally closed. Thus under normalconditions the pistons 16 are held in their respective innermostpositions by means of springs 22 and the tanks may fill with water whenthe body is submerged.

For opening the valve 21 automatically, when the body 10 has reached apoint in close proximity to the bottom of the ocean or other body ofwater, a trip rod 23 is employed having a crank arm 24 connected to thevalve 21 by which the valve 21 is opened when the depending end of therod 23 strikes the bottom.

For the. purpose of scooping up articles from the ocean bed, the body 10is provided with a depending rigid rod 19 carrying on its outer end ascoop or dredging bucket 25 of suitable type having jaws 26 pivoted at27, so they may swing from open to closed position to gather material tobe brought to the surface. Normally these jaws 26 are held open by meansof a cable 30 which passes upwardly over suitable pulleys 31 mountedupon the rod 19 and terminates in a loop or ring 32. This loop 32 isarranged to be engaged by the meeting ends of twoslide bars 33, whichare rigidly mounted for movement respectively in sleeves 3 1 fixed tothe frame 12 belowthe ballast tanks 13. The length of the cable 30 issuch that when the bars 33 are through the loop 32 the bucket jaws 26will be held open.

To actuate the slide bars 33, each is connected to a separate head 35attached to the respective piston rods .17 so that movement of thelatter transmits motion to the bars 33 to cause the loop 32 to bereleased and thereby allow the bucket jaws 26 to close.

Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

be supported upon one of the slide bars 33.

The construction is such that when the ring 40 is released the weight 36drops from the rope "37 and allows the apparatus to return to thesurface under the action of the confined air.

For the purpose oftaking -pictures while the apparatus is in the water,and more particularly during the return to the surface, a suitable watertight casing 41 is provided having one or more transparent sides 42 andwithin which a camera 43, of the motion picture type having its lens 44outwardly disposed to cover the field viewed through thetransparentsic'le. The film is arranged to be reeled off automaticallyby means of propeller 45 rotatably mounted upon the top of the casing 41and arranged to transmit motion to a gear 46 in mesh with a bevel gear47, this latter being keyed to a shaft 50 which carries a bevel gear 51in mesh with a bevel gear 52 fixed to the reeling off spindle 53 of thecamera 43. The pitch of the blades of the propeller 45 is such as tooperate, preferably, only during the rising of the apparatus and theratio of the gearing is proportioned to operate the film at a properfeeding speed.

. If desired to illuminate the water surrounding the casing 41, lightrays may be projected outwardly by means of an electric search light 54and employing a reflector 55.

In the operation of the device the pistons 16 are normally held in theirinnermost positions by the action of the springs 22 and in this positionthe bars 33 project across the space between the meeting ends of thepipes 34 in order to support the cable 30 and hold the jaws 26 of thebucket 25 in open position, while also carrying the weight 36. The valve21 of the filled compressed air reservoir is normally closed and thedevice may be lowered into the water. When this takes place the tanksfill with water through the openings 15 and the weight causes the aparatus to sink to the bottom of the body 0 water. The trip rod 23 is ofsuch a length that when the bucket 25 is in position to do its work therod 23 strikes the bottom, thereby causing the valve 2'1 to open andrelease the air to the two tanks 13. The pistons 16 are then forcedoutwardly expelling the water from each tank and also releasing the ringmembers 32 and 40, in consequence of which the Weight 36 is dropped andthe bucket jaws 26 are free to close. The device being lightened by theloss of the water and the weight thereupon rises thus causing the bucketjaws to close and bring to the surface its contents scooped from thesurface of the ocean bed. In rising to the surface the propeller 45actuates the film of the camera 43 and causes pictures of thesurrounding body of water to be taken.

I It will now be apparent that a complete u'r'iitary'device has beendevised for the purpose of collecting and salvaging articles on theb'ottdm' of the ocean or the like and whereby the operation is carriedout automatically and dredging or recovery operations made Whereordinary methods of sending down divers is impractical. While but oneform of the present invention is here shown it is to be understood thatthe device may be variously constructed and modified Without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the ap-'pended claims.

Having now described the invention what we claim is 1. In a submarineapparatus, the combination of a body arranged to be submerged in a bodyof water, a plurality of ballast tanks carried by said body, a reservoircon.

tainingcompressed air, a scoop member. secured to said body, means tonormally hold sald member open for a scooping operation,

pistons respectively mounted in said tanks a ballast tank carriedthereby and arranged a to sink said body when filled with water, areservolr containlng compressedalr, means operated by contact with thebottom of said 3 body of water to replace the contents of said tank withair from said reservoir, a weight suspended from said body, and means including a movable piston to release said weight automatically.

3. In a submarine apparatus, a body adapted to be'submerged in a body ofwater, a ballast tank carried thereby and arranged to sink said bodywhen filled with water, a reservoir containing compressed air,meansoperated by contact with the bottom of said body of water toreplace the contents'of said tank with air from'said reservoir, a weightsuspended fromsaid body, means including a pistonmovably mounted in saidtan-k to'release said weight automatically, and means to collect andbring? up. articles or material from thebottom of said body of Water.

4..In' a submarine apparatus,.a body a r-v ranged to be submerged in abody of water, a ballast tank carried thereby and adapted to sink saldbody when filled with water, a

reservoir containing compressed air, a bucket provided with pivotedscoop jaws, means to normally hold said jaws open, and meanssimultaneously operated by contact with the bottom of said body of waterto replace the contents of said tank and to release said jaws, wherebyarticles or material from said bottom are collected in said bucket andsaid body rises to the surface.

5. In a submarine apparatus, a body arranged to be submerged in a bodyof water, a ballast tank carried thereby and adapted to sink said bodywhen filled with water, a reservoir containing compressed air, meansoperated by contact with the bottom of said body of water to replace thecontents of said tank with air from said reservoir to cause said body torise, and means operated by the rising movement for taking photographs.

6. In a submarine apparatus, a body arranged to be submerged in a bodyof water, a ballast tank carried thereby and adapted to sink said bodywhen filled with water, a reservoir containing compressed air, meansoperated by contact with the bottom of said body of water to replace thecontents of said tank with air from said reservoir to cause said body torise, and means operated by the rising movement of said body for takingmotion pictures of the surrounding body of water.

GIUSEPPE FORMIGLIA. ANTONIO MAULO.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

